

Getting doused with ice water isn't too excruciating on a hot summer day, and it can be fun to watch. Still, he said there are clear factors that contributed to its success.įor one thing, the challenge is fun. Joe Magee, vice president of RallyBound, a social fundraising platform for nonprofits, told CBS News that the success of the ice bucket challenge is like "lightning in a bottle" and can't necessarily be replicated.
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He pointed to the psychological concept of " moral licensing." Research in that area suggests that once an individual does a good deed, they convince themselves they have license to act less ethically later. Still, MacAskill said the decision doesn't have to be conscious. support causes that are near and dear to my heart." "They say here's a great opportunity, it's fun, I want to be part of something bigger than I am. "I don't think people are consciously making these decisions that I'm no longer going to give to Goodwill or a food bank," Sharma said. The funding going to ALS this way is discretionary money that otherwise wouldn't have gone into the nonprofit sector, she said. Sharma countered that the beauty of the ice bucket challenge is that its participants act on impulse. MacAskill said that's problematic, given that research suggests there's a "fixed proportion of money" that Americans are willing to give to charity.Īs the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported last year, charitable donations have represented about 2 percent of the country's gross domestic product for the past four decades, even as the number of charities and fundraising events continues to grow. There's little conversation, he noted, about which organizations participants are most interested in supporting, or which groups get the most bang for their buck. MacAskill called the video aspect of the campaign "fantastic." His concern, he said, is "just a matter of how it's being harnessed." Stars take part in ALS Ice Bucket Challenge 20 photos His organization focuses on encouraging people to make long-term commitments to the most high-impact charities that help people in the developing world. "My objection definitely isn't to throwing ice water over yourself," William MacAskill, co-founder of the organization Giving What We Can, told CBS News.

Even worse, they warn the campaign could take away dollars from other charitable organizations that use money more effectively, particularly if donors don't do their homework before giving. At best, they say, the ice bucket challenge could be a flash-in-the-pan moment that doesn't build any larger support for ALS research. Still, others are concerned about the ultimate impact of the campaign. Perhaps people do it for social vanity, or for fun, or humor - I don't think we can take issue with that." "But from my perspective, this a great way to increase awareness to this cause. "I think that is always a concern, and there are several people that have made that point, that it is rooted in narcissism and people are not truly connected to the cause," Sharma said. Indeed, while the ALS Association has gained more than 630,000 new donors, there have been 2.4 million videos related to the challenge on Facebook.
